


Heart Wrapped in Frost and Flame

by reuni0n



Category: Fate/Grand Order, Fate/stay night & Related Fandoms
Genre: Angst, F/F, Hurt/Comfort, Modern AU, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Slow Burn, babys first fic, ophelia polycule? its more likely than you think, trans!Ophelia
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-14
Updated: 2020-04-14
Packaged: 2021-03-01 17:34:36
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,010
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23650921
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/reuni0n/pseuds/reuni0n
Summary: Ophelia Phamrsolone is an university student struggling to deal with the problems of any young adult's life. She seems to be managing, until one day a mere Twitter notification from a friend of the past hits her and everything goes pear-shaped.
Relationships: Fujimaru Ritsuka/Mash Kyrielight | Shielder, Ophelia Phamrsolone/Fujimaru Ritsuka, Ophelia Phamrsolone/Mash Kyrielight | Shielder, Ophelia Phamrsolone/Mash Kyrielight | Shielder/Fujimaru Ritsuka
Comments: 4
Kudos: 21





	Heart Wrapped in Frost and Flame

Ophelia Phamrsolone. What did people say of her?

They called her a prodigy. One of the best students to grace their university in her generation. Someone who didn't coast on connections or her family's wealth, but got to where she was through pure hard work. Someone who kept her head cool at all times, and would fling herself at problems until she finally solved them. A genius, in other words. 

A prodigy. A genius, they say. 

If all of that is true, which she does not think is the case, then… 

Then why has she been staring at her phone's screen like an absolute idiot for the better part of the past half hour? 

The offender was a simple and very innocent line of text. A Twitter notification that read:

**Mash @ uni!! has started following you!**

And that was all it took. In the outside Ophelia was as calm and collected as ever, but her mind had been racing a mile a minute ever since she set her eyes on those dreadful words. 

She hadn't looked at their profile, but she spotted an unmistakable lavender-colored hair in their profile picture, which meant that this "Mash" could only be Mash Kyrielight. A freshman student who had latched onto her group of friends back at high school, following them around like a puppy. A very curious puppy. Most of them were generally kind towards her, but admittedly one or two had attitudes towards the puppy that Ophelia found downright despicable. She hoped that they had grown out of it, but she knew that was probably not the case. At best, it would be more insidious, she thought with a hint of resentment. 

Taking a deep breath, she set her phone down and looked at her laptop's screen, which was currently displaying a text document, a half-done paper that was to be handed in a week later. Most people liked to take their time, but Ophelia was a fan of getting things done as soon as possible. You can't put a price on inner peace, she thought, and scrambling to get things finished during the days, if not hours before they were due was not a practice she enjoyed. Not that she didn't have any experience on that front, after all the amount of homework her teachers could pile on her at once bordered on ridiculous at times. 

She started working again. A few minutes, maybe half an hour passed, the soft humming of her laptop's fan and the clicking of her keyboard filling the silence in the room. She was gonna get through this. No problem. What did Mash want to do with her anyway? She left everyone behind one day never to come back without as much as a goodbye. Surely she would still be feeling sour after that? Not even two years had passed, after all. They had also not exchanged a single word ever since. 

And so the tapping on the keyboard continued for what felt like a couple of hours, Ophelia quickly composing the text, looking up sources and trying her hardest to focus on the work in front of her, but to her dismay it was nearly done unlike the day. According to her computer's clock, it was barely six in the afternoon. She softly sighed. She was gonna have to deal with this before going to sleep, wasn't she? 

Ophelia softly lowered the lid of her laptop and rose from her seat, making a beeline for the window in her room. Opening the curtains, she basked in the beauty of the setting sun and the buildings in the campus, at times feeling like they were made of pure crystal, reflecting its majestic light. At least the sights in Berlin were pretty, she thought. 

She turned around and looked at her phone, still laying on her small work table, screen facing the expensive wood. Walking towards it, she thought of her roommate. Oh, how she wished she could ask for his advice right now. Though knowing him he would just go on a tirade about following your heart. That idiot dealt with everything in a supremely stoic and straightforward way, everything but matters of the heart. 

Which this was not. At all. 

She sat down and picked it up. Unlocking the phone, she quickly tapped on the icon with a bird. And as if on cue, the first post that greeted her eye was a picture posted by his girlfriend of the two of them sitting on a bench in a park that she believed was not too far from where she was right now. A small, elegant smile painted her face, but Ophelia knew that if Bryn wasn't an example of elegance she would instead be sporting a thousand watt grin. On her left side, the same kind of smile adorned Sigurd's face, but in comparison to his regular icy expression, he might as well be beaming. He probably was, at least internally. Accompanying the picture was a sickeningly sweet caption that would've sounded terribly cheesy if it came from anyone but those two. 

She entered Bryn's profile, and scrolling down she saw that she had been posting similar pictures for the past two hours at least. It made sense, considering fridays were the days in which without fail Sigurd would drop everything and focus in only one thing. Her. 

With a sigh, Ophelia switched to her locked account and made a quick post. 

**resident sunday anti @uncoveredeye**

i want what they have tbh. 

She sighed and looked at the two bottles of pills at the corner of the table. Picking up one capsule from each, she looked for a glass of water and let one go down with a gulp. The other one she let dissolve under her tongue. As the unsavory flavor assaulted her, she paused for a second to think things straight. Mash had followed her. That was it, really. Could she had done so without knowing it was her? 

And then she remembered that her handle was just a dry "Pharmsolone". Stupid. But what did it mean? Did she still want to be friends after all this time? Unbelievable. And so she turned to the one person that she thought would potentially be helpful at this time. 

Switching back to her main account, she went to the Messages tab, and looked at the list. One of them stood firmly at the top, a group chat simply called "The Crypters." The group chat belonging to her old friends, if she could call them that, that Peperoncino had created for them to keep in touch after they had all parted ways. Ophelia couldn't stop thinking about her departure causing everyone to leave one after the other. It made her sick to the core. She knew it was happening sooner or later, but… 

Shaking her head, she tried to suppress the feeling in her gut. She also noticed that said group had nearly twenty thousand unread messages. Heavens, she really had to put in some more effort in keeping up with them. But what was the point? Surely she had gotten added to it just as an act of courtesy, not because they actually wanted her, right? 

Following that train of thought, would Peperoncino even want to talk to her? Looking at his tab, she saw that it had been months ever since they last talked. Entering their chat made the picture even more daunting. He was doing all the talking, really. While she had at best replied with short one-liners, if she even bothered to reply in the first place. 

She silently turned the phone's screen off and slid it into her pocket, closing her eyes. Maybe a walk would help her clear her mind? 

And walk she did. Ophelia stepped out of her room making sure to lock it behind her, and a bit of walking and several floors of stairs down and she was out of her building. The sun was almost entirely gone by now, and the chilling night breeze was starting to settle down, hugging her and making the girl shiver. Too late to go back for a scarf, she thought. If she returned to her room she wouldn't leave again and since Sigurd wasn't returning tonight she'd be forced to stay in there with her thoughts until tomorrow. Not a good idea. It was too early for her monthly breakdown. 

Shoving those thoughts aside, now she had a choice to make. Where to? The park was off limits. Assuming they were still there, she was sure Sigurd and Bryn wouldn't mind her presence, but she would stick out like a huge splotch of black paint on an otherwise beautiful painting. Vetoed. 

After considering her options, Ophelia finally settled on that one coffee shop she liked. It was also a ten minute walk away, which lent itself well to what she was trying to do. Perfect. 

Walking absentmindedly, she slowly went through the events of the day while ignoring the terribly disguised glances people shot her way. Yes, I have an eyepatch, there's other people like me you know. Are you gonna share at them too? She wanted to say. But she just swallowed it and went on. Her morning had been like any other. Breakfast accompanied by her roommate, then classes, then lunch, then some more classes and by four she was back at her room. Nothing out of the ordinary, really. Up until that cursed notification appeared. 

Her thoughts were interrupted by the chattering of her teeth, the cold really starting to get to her. Her stockings were barely any guard, not to mention the black jacket made of thin fabric and the white blouse underneath. The skirt was downright detrimental. Heavens, what in the world was she thinking going out like this? Pneumonia wasn't high on the list of things she wanted to experience. But it was too late to turn back. She picked up the pace. 

Sooner than expected, she found herself in front of the coffee shop. Opening the door, a delicious sweet aroma wafted past her, and the warmth of the place was a delightful contrast against the merciless cold of the street behind her. She could see a few people inside, some of them wearing sweaters - and most importantly, scarves - sporting her university's insignia and casually chatting, others by themselves just getting some work done. All in all, as she walked forward to grab a seat for herself, she could already start feeling her mood getting a bit better. 

Not too long after that a girl came to get her order, though it took Ophelia no less than two minutes to realize someone was talking to her, mind still thinking about the problems that had been plaguing her for the past hours. 

"Ah…sorry, I was distracted," Ophelia said, shaking her head, not bothering to raise it and look at the person talking at her however. "What did you say, again?" 

"Uhm…Ophelia-san, what are you going to order?," the girl said, a tinge of nervousness in her voice. So far, the young barista hadn't had to deal with someone taking a seat and then having to be addressed six times before they finally gave signs of life.  _ I suppose there really is a first for everything! _ she thought. 

"Order…?" she asked, still looking down. Right, this is a coffee shop. Something struck Ophelia as really weird in that last sentence, but she didn't dwell on it. "Say, would you think it was weird if someone who was about to freeze to death maybe five minutes ago decided to drink a large frappuccino with vanilla ice cream?" 

The girl softly laughed. "No. You're the customer here, after all! You must like them a lot if you're willing to drink one with this cold though."

Ophelia softly nodded. "I drink them when I'm happy or need a pick me up." 

"And which one is it right now?", the girl asked, softly tilting her head to the side.

"The pick me up. I'm a mess." 

"Right…" the girl said, making a mental note of both the order and Ophelia's state. "Anything else?" 

"I want the sweetest edible thing you have right now. Whatever it is." Ophelia would never admit it, but she actually had a bit of a sweet tooth. It got way worse when she was stressed, however. 

"Uh-huh…" the barista said, slowly as if trying to process it. "Well, if you'll excuse me I'll be back in a bit with your order!" she said quickly walking away, going back behind the bar to start working on the bone-chilling drink while casually chatting with her coworkers. 

Alone once more, Ophelia took out her phone from her pocket and again scrolled through the Messages tab. She resolutely stared at Peperoncino's tab and steeled herself to engage with him, earnestly for once. That was a problem for the future her though. Right now she could just focus on the sweet things on the way. And Mash. 

Based on the notifications going in, the group chat was very active right now. According to what little she could read, Hinako was in the middle of her monthly session with the group, her appearance usually serving as a call for everyone to get in and start talking, instead of just two or three at a time like it usually was.  _ Everyone but me _ , Ophelia thought bitterly. 

She wanted to join right now, she really did. Hinako was very interesting to talk to, and when everyone was around the chat was just lively and very positive in general, almost as if nothing had changed at all. That said, in her current state she would probably just end up lashing at someone and then feeling terrible about it. Hard pass. 

Finally looking up, as she glanced at the glass door of the stablishment she noticed something that had somehow escaped her all along. It was now raining. To say that she was unequipped to deal with that would be a colossal understatement. So she was stuck here until it passed, which all things considered wasn't that bad. She'd get to calmly enjoy her beverage and pastry, all while drafting a plan to deal with… Mash. And her friends who probably didn't want her around after all. But most importantly Mash. Heavens, why am I focusing so hard on her? 

So, let's go over things one last time, she thought. Mash had followed her, that much was as real as the phone on her hand or the chair she was sitting on. That was it, though. There was no reason to panic, right? Maybe she just wanted to be friends again? And Ophelia was not opposed to the idea, at all. As a matter of fact, having more than two friends, assuming Peperoncino still counted could be nice. She softly chided herself for overreacting to something like this. Maybe she needed to relax. Fortunately, she was in the perfect place for that. Yes, she was gonna deal with this tonight and come out victorious. 

Feeling her chaotic mind slowly but surely go back to calmness, she finally tapped on Mash's profile. Hm, not much to look at. Slowly scrolling down, she noticed that a lot of her posts were just either pictures of her with what looked like a small cute white…dog? and retweets of someone called simply 'gudako.' There were a lot of those. She kept scrolling down, a small smile eventually making its way to her face. Mash was the same cinnamon roll as always. One of them seemed particularly interesting though, so she scrolled up. It was a picture of her wearing what looked like an uniform of sorts. Black stockings much like hers, a short dress of the same color, and to top it all off, a white-and-gray apron and a red cap. Huh, she's working as a barista now?  _ That door behind her looks…very...familiar... _ Ophelia thought, pure horror starting to rise inside her. Raising her hand towards the door still holding the phone with the opened picture, there was no doubt. It was the same door. 

The - now once again very distressed - university student swallowed. No way. This was impossible. What are the odds? She scrolled up, reaching the top of Mash's profile, slowly and very carefully going over her bio. 

And there it was, the final nail. A simple word in the location part. 

**Berlin.**

_ So this is how I die, huh? _ Ophelia thought, placing her phone on the table so her hands could hold her head. Glancing through her fingers at the door, she noticed with dismay that the rain present before had gotten much worse. It was outright downpouring. Though she didn't get much time to contemplate her potential death should she decide to go out, as something, someone got in the middle. The barista from before. 

"Sorry for the delay, Ophelia-san!" the girl said, her cheerful voice a stark opposite from the feelings coursing through her customer right now. "I had a really hard time choosing what to bring you! But I think you'll really like this particular chocolate cake!" Mash said, sitting in the chair in front of her as she placed the drink and the small white plate carrying the aforementioned slice of chocolate cake right next to it, with a small but stylish fork tentatively resting besides it. 

Ophelia, however, had all but forgotten about the sweet treats she so craved. Her mind could only focus on one thing, the barista right in front of her wearing the same dress, the same stockings, the same apron and the same cap. She also had lavender hair covering one of her eyes. She also wore glasses. 

Her barista was Mash, the subject of all her distress. And she was trapped in the same building as her until Mother Nature decided she had enough. 

One side of Ophelia was grateful for the chance to fight her main problem head-on. The - much bigger - other however could only say one thing. 

_ Fuck.  _

**Author's Note:**

> hii so yeah this is the first time i write fic in years so for all intents and purposes im basically starting fresh alskdjlksaj ;; if you hated it direct all complaints towards my gf seeing as she's the one who encouraged me to post it


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